This invention relates to tipping devices for embossed workpieces and more specifically to a novel and useful removably mounted cassette therefor containing a ribbon treated with pigmented tipping material.
Applicant is unaware of any tipping device incorporating the removable ribbon carrying cassette of the present invention. The prior art structure in this area of which applicant is aware is exemplified, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,016 which discloses a tipping device for an embossed workpiece, such as a conventional plastic credit card. The device has a supply spool on which is wound a ribbon treated with pigmented tipping material. The ribbon extends between a platen and bed and around idler, guide and clamping rollers to a takeup spool. The principle drawback to this structure is that the ribbon must be manually positioned in a circuitous path through the device around the aforementioned rollers to a takeup spool each time the supply of ribbon is exhausted. This manual positioning of the ribbon is not only time consuming and disruptive of normal operation of the device, it requires knowledge of the precise path of the ribbon and a relatively high degree of dexterity to position it.
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art by providing a tipping device wherein the ribbon treated with pigmented tipping material is held in a frame in the form of a cassette. The ribbon extends unsupported a distance from a supply spool to a driven takeup spool. A fixed spindle is mounted on one side of a passageway extending between a support against which the workpiece is placed and a reciprocally driven heated platen, and a driven spindle is mounted on the other side of the passageway. To load the device, the cassette is merely positioned on the spindles such that only the unsupported portion of the ribbon extends through the aforementioned passageway. When the supply of unused ribbon is exhausted, the cassette is merely removed from the spindles and discarded and a new cassette inserted on the spindles as previously described. The design of the cassette and the relative position of the spindles ensure that the cassette cannot be improperly installed by an unskilled operator.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a superior means of loading and unloading a tipping device for embossed workpieces such as credit cards.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-contained supply of treated ribbon in the form of a cassette for a tipping device.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a cassette for a tipping device, which because a portion of the ribbon extending between spools in the cassette in unsupported, only the unsupported portion need be placed between the platen and bed, thus resulting in a more compact device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cassette containing treated ribbon for a tipping device which can be easily and accurately positioned in the top of the device and which can be easily removed and discarded when exhausted.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a tipping device with cassette loading of the ribbon which is simple in construction and which can be operated easily and efficiently by an unskilled person.